Snapshots
by New1Romantic
Summary: Little stories about the Doctor's relationship with Sarah Jane Characters: Sarah Jane Smith, Captian Jack, Martha and maybe Rose. Rating may go up.
1. Promises

A perfectly ordinary street

For those of you who had read previously, I've shifted the focus over slightly to Sarah Jane and the Doctor's relationship, but the other characters will still feature, and this is now the first chapter because I was just writing it for no reason and I realised that it fit perfectly before the last chapter, so I decided to put it in 

A perfectly ordinary street. That's all it was, a street. He would admit, he was disappointed. But, wait! Something hummed in his pocket. He patted down his coat to try and find the right one, eventually feeling the slight vibrations. He delved in and threw out all the junk; pens papers, chocolate bars and jelly babies. He looked at the bag of jelly babies for a sec and grinned pocketing them again. They'd given him the same smile when he bought them last week.

It had been an impulse. He had been wandering down a perfectly innocent street when he came across a sweet shop. It wouldn't hurt him to go in for a sec, just to look around. It was the same sweet shop he had come in during his fourth regeneration to buy jelly babies. So naturally he had to buy some. And some fudge, but that was just because he liked fudge. But then a Velociraptor came rampaging down the street and he got side-tracked.

So he was standing in the middle of a suburban street with no fudge, dinosaur bites, jelly babies and a humming thing that he couldn't find. Eventually, after many moment of displacing junk (including a mobile phone, several toy mice and a medieval gold goblet.) until he pulled out a little red sphere, slowly changing colour to purple and then to blue. He pressed a button in the centre and it fell in half, revealing what looked like a highly detailed radar system.

There were thousands of tiny dots on the screen, but a huge blob, further down the road. She tapped it, to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning and wiped the screen, he was sure there couldn't be an energy spike that high.

"Damn energy detector thing," He muttered angrily and then laughed, "I need to think of a better name." He started to walk towards the vague direction of the blot on the screen, turning into a driveway and knocking on the door seemed to be coming from behind.

"Electrician!" He yelled. There was no sign of movement from inside. He banged harder and yelled louder. "Electrician!" He pressed his ear to the door, but still couldn't hear anything.

He looked down at the radar and pulled his sonic screwdriver out of a pocket. He aimed it at the door and with a click it swung open. "Hello?" he called in to the empty house. "Electrician, jest doing a check of the area…" He looked in the kitchen and it seemed like any other kitchen. It disappointed him really, no Frankenstein experiments or alien computers.

The room was boiling, so he pulled off his jacket and laid it just out of sight on the sofa, taking out his precious sonic screwdriver and put it in the front pocket. It put out a slight, comforting warmth in the strange, empty house.

He walked upstairs, "The door was open, I just thought I'd look around." He had a quick look upstairs, but could tell he was still far away from the energy spike, it seemed to be coming from above him.

He climbed up the next set of stairs in to an small, cluttered attic. It seemed perfectly ordinary. There was a sofa and books that lined one wall. Yet, the reading was perfectly clear; this was where the energy spike was coming from.

He tapped the device again. It flickered for a second but still read the same. The Doctor sighed, "I guess it _is _just an ordinary street." He sighed and went to put his hands in his pockets, despite the fact that his jacket was downstairs and he was holding a clucky device in one hand.

He turned to the door, but something stopped him. His spare hand twitched and pulled up to the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. It wouldn't take long to just do one sweep of the room for hidden devices.

He put the energy device down on the sofa and picked a random point in the room, close to the fireplace. It didn't take long until the wailing noise coming out of the little blue and silver device changed pitch, becoming higher and more rapid. He twisted the setting and the sound oscillated from high to low and he bent down to the floor, running it against the edge of the fireplace.

Surprise knocked him of his feet into a sitting position as the fireplace swung open like two doors. Steam flew out and the pressure being released blew his light brown hair back. His eyes closed on instinct and when he opened them, a computer was there, hidden in the wall.

He grinned and ran his hand over the front panel underneath the screen. "A Xylok computer!" He cried happily. "You are beautiful." The screen was blank, instead of the fluctuating crystalline structure he knew should be there. "Not turned on yet," he muttered, "Probably for the best." He ran his hands over the few buttons on the mainly voice activated sentient machine.

Suddenly, a picture appeared on the screen, fuzzy at first, but growing clear and the crystal shape stated to move. "State your species and purpose." It said in a calm, male voice.

"Ah," He stood up erect in front of the computer. "well," He put a hand up to rub the back of his head.

"State your species and purpose." The computer said again, and what looked like a small cannon appeared out of the side. He backed away and fell onto the sofa. It was then that he heard a footstep on the stairs.

Sarah Jane walked up the driveway with her son and her three young friends. The three fourteen year olds laughed at a joke that she wasn't listening to. She grabbed the doorknob to unlock it, but with the little force she put in, the door swung open a little was, exposing the hallway.

She looked back at Maria, Clyde and Luke, who had all gone silent; they knew she never left the door unlocked. Fear for her young companions washed over her as she put a hand on the door frame, barring their way through. "Stay here," She said seriously, and they knew better than to defy her, looking at each other with an itch to investigate, but still, out of respect, they stopped themselves.

She closed the door behind her and though she regretted it, locked it, so the children couldn't come in. She didn't want them risking their lives in her house. Again. But the house seemed strangely empty without them, even though she knew they were just outside.

She walked in to the living room, peering round. All seemed fine, except for a shape on the sofa. She edges towards it and her heart gave a leap. Tentatively she picked it up and a small, white bag fell out of one of the pockets and her heart leaped in to her mouth. A smile broke through her lips and she was filled with apprehension and excitement.

A small part of her wanted to throw open the door and let Maria, Luke and Clyde meet the man who had started it all, but the rest pushed it away, wanting him all to herself for a little bit. That is, if Rose wasn't with him. She didn't think so, though. She put the coat over her arm, still holding the little bag of jelly babies and started upstairs.

She heard voices from her little attic room and a commotion. She ran up the stairs and flung open the door, only to see the funniest sight she would have ever seen had it not been for the danger of the situation. The Doctor was there, crouching behind the little sofa while her computer tried to shoot him with his cannon. Of course, all he managed to do was blow chunks out of her sofa.

The Doctor looked relived to see her,. Collapsing onto the wooden floor. "Sarah Jane!" He cried, happily, but with relief laced in her voice. "Call the computer off!" he yelled at her." Despite it all, she had to restrain from laughing.

"Mr Smith! Stop, he's a friend." The computer calmed down and stopped firing.

"I am sorry Sarah Jane, He was not being compliant and I perceived him as a threat." The computer said quietly.

"That's ok," She glanced back at the Doctor, who had stood up and was brushing off his blue suit. A smirk crossed her face. "No harm done." She turned her full attention to the Doctor and her smile grew, if possible, wider. "Now, would you like a jelly baby? I'm quite partial to them, you know." He laughed and strode up to her, hugging her and lifting her completely off the ground. "I missed you," She whispered sadly.

"I missed you too," He let her feet touch the ground again, though she didn't notice, she still felt like she was floating. He rested his face on hers, so that their foreheads and noses touched. His fringe tickled her fore head and she blew up, to brush it out the way. It felt intimate here, like she was privy to some secret and that they were all alone. Her skin tingled with the contact, but a part of her wanted to pull away.

"Where's Rose?" She asked, not unkindly, but with a hint of possessiveness. She saw his eyes change, a hint of sadness in them. "Oh," he voice softened. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to-"

"No," he cut her off. "It's not your fault. She's ok, she's just trapped in an alternate universe. No way back." They just stood in the position for minutes, the things she wanted to say, not coming out, yet they seemed said anyway.

A knock on the door brought them back to reality. A voice called out, "Sarah Jane? Are you ok?"

"Are you expecting anyone?" Asked the Doctor, drawing away from her, the points where he had put pressure on her face tingled and felt empty, in a way.

"That's Maria." She said, itching for him to show as much emotion as he had a few seconds ago, but he had already gone back into his shell. She had seen him do it before; her pouring her heart out to him as they tried to fix K9 as his eyes smoky, almost glazed over as he smoothed over everything she had said. Yet she could see, vivid as if it had happened five minutes ago, the pain gathering behind his eyes.

"I should go then," He took his coat and stated to put it on.

"No," She whispered. "Don't go. I don't want you to disappear again; last time you did, I didn't see you for decades." She smiled sadly, feeling ripped in two.

"I'm sorry. I have to."

"Then promise me you'll come back soon." She smiled, blinking back the tears that welled in her eyes, threatening to come out.

"I'll try to." His voice sounded sincere. "it's not always easy for me. You wouldn't understand."

But strangely, she did. "I do," She nodded. "And if you can't do that, promise me you'll always remember me, promise me," She paused, unsure whether to say it. "Promise me I'll always be your Sarah Jane." He grinned widely.

"You'll never be anything else."

"Sarah Jane?" Called the voice again, louder and more frantically.

"I'm here," She finally yelled back, down the stairs. "Everything's ok, I was just clearing up." She cringed at the poor excuse, but it would have to do."

"I'd better go down and let them in." he nodded on agreement.

"I should go too, I didn't actually mean to stay." The machine, still lying on the sofa beeped again and he picked it up. "There's a big energy surge uptown, I should check that out." They started walking down the stairs together. "So you've done alright without me then,"

She sighed, "Alright, I suppose, but not good. I try and keep busy, then I don't have to think about it too much. I miss you." As they reached the landing, he made to go out the door, but she stopped him, "can you go out the back door?" She asked cautiously. "I don't want them to meet you yet."

He nodded, though slightly confused, "Of course," he turned round to go the other way.

"And one more thing before you go. Promise me?"

He nodded and kissed her on the lips. "I promise," And with that he was gone.

It was then that the tears she had held behind her eyes broke forth and ran down her cheeks. They only lasted a minute, as she lay her head back on the wall, succumbing to the heavy stream, kicking the wall with the back of her shoe and slumping down to the floor.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up, her legs shaking. Sighing, she walked over to the door and, with one last, nervous breath, opened it. She was suddenly barraged by questions. "What happened?" "Don't tell me you've been cleaning up for ten minutes!" "We were worried!" "Why'd you lock us out?" "Did I see someone come round from the back of the house just now? What aren't you telling us?"

It was too much to bear for Sarah Jane, who let out another choked sob. Then there was silence, as the three fourteen year olds stared at her. She new she must look a mess, with her mascara smudged, red swollen eyes and clutching a bag of jelly babies like it was her most precious possession. Plus, she had to explain the burnt hole in the couch.

"Are you alright?" Asked Maria, breaking the silence.

_Alright? _Thought Sarah Jane, _How could I be alright? The only man who I have ever loved has just ripped my heart out again and my lips still burn from his kiss, just like if I was a teenager. I'm so confused._

But she sniffed, pulling back tears and smiled. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" And without another word, she walked back in to the house, still clutching the jelly babies.


	2. His Sarah Jane, Her Doctor

A perfectly ordinary street

For those of you who had read previously, I've shifted the focus over slightly to Sarah Jane and the Doctor's relationship, but the other characters will still feature, and this is now the first chapter because I was just writing it for no reason and I realised that it fit perfectly before the last chapter, so I decided to put it in 

A perfectly ordinary street. That's all it was, a street. He would admit, he was disappointed. But, wait! Something hummed in his pocket. He patted down his coat to try and find the right one, eventually feeling the slight vibrations. He delved in and threw out all the junk; pens papers, chocolate bars and jelly babies. He looked at the bag of jelly babies for a sec and grinned pocketing them again. They'd given him the same smile when he bought them last week.

It had been an impulse. He had been wandering down a perfectly innocent street when he came across a sweet shop. It wouldn't hurt him to go in for a sec, just to look around. It was the same sweet shop he had come in during his fourth regeneration to buy jelly babies. So naturally he had to buy some. And some fudge, but that was just because he liked fudge. But then a Velociraptor came rampaging down the street and he got side-tracked.

So he was standing in the middle of a suburban street with no fudge, dinosaur bites, jelly babies and a humming thing that he couldn't find. Eventually, after many moment of displacing junk (including a mobile phone, several toy mice and a medieval gold goblet.) until he pulled out a little red sphere, slowly changing colour to purple and then to blue. He pressed a button in the centre and it fell in half, revealing what looked like a highly detailed radar system.

There were thousands of tiny dots on the screen, but a huge blob, further down the road. She tapped it, to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning and wiped the screen, he was sure there couldn't be an energy spike that high.

"Damn energy detector thing," He muttered angrily and then laughed, "I need to think of a better name." He started to walk towards the vague direction of the blot on the screen, turning into a driveway and knocking on the door seemed to be coming from behind.

"Electrician!" He yelled. There was no sign of movement from inside. He banged harder and yelled louder. "Electrician!" He pressed his ear to the door, but still couldn't hear anything.

He looked down at the radar and pulled his sonic screwdriver out of a pocket. He aimed it at the door and with a click it swung open. "Hello?" he called in to the empty house. "Electrician, jest doing a check of the area…" He looked in the kitchen and it seemed like any other kitchen. It disappointed him really, no Frankenstein experiments or alien computers.

The room was boiling, so he pulled off his jacket and laid it just out of sight on the sofa, taking out his precious sonic screwdriver and put it in the front pocket. It put out a slight, comforting warmth in the strange, empty house.

He walked upstairs, "The door was open, I just thought I'd look around." He had a quick look upstairs, but could tell he was still far away from the energy spike, it seemed to be coming from above him.

He climbed up the next set of stairs in to an small, cluttered attic. It seemed perfectly ordinary. There was a sofa and books that lined one wall. Yet, the reading was perfectly clear; this was where the energy spike was coming from.

He tapped the device again. It flickered for a second but still read the same. The Doctor sighed, "I guess it _is _just an ordinary street." He sighed and went to put his hands in his pockets, despite the fact that his jacket was downstairs and he was holding a clucky device in one hand.

He turned to the door, but something stopped him. His spare hand twitched and pulled up to the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. It wouldn't take long to just do one sweep of the room for hidden devices.

He put the energy device down on the sofa and picked a random point in the room, close to the fireplace. It didn't take long until the wailing noise coming out of the little blue and silver device changed pitch, becoming higher and more rapid. He twisted the setting and the sound oscillated from high to low and he bent down to the floor, running it against the edge of the fireplace.

Surprise knocked him of his feet into a sitting position as the fireplace swung open like two doors. Steam flew out and the pressure being released blew his light brown hair back. His eyes closed on instinct and when he opened them, a computer was there, hidden in the wall.

He grinned and ran his hand over the front panel underneath the screen. "A Xylok computer!" He cried happily. "You are beautiful." The screen was blank, instead of the fluctuating crystalline structure he knew should be there. "Not turned on yet," he muttered, "Probably for the best." He ran his hands over the few buttons on the mainly voice activated sentient machine.

Suddenly, a picture appeared on the screen, fuzzy at first, but growing clear and the crystal shape stated to move. "State your species and purpose." It said in a calm, male voice.

"Ah," He stood up erect in front of the computer. "well," He put a hand up to rub the back of his head.

"State your species and purpose." The computer said again, and what looked like a small cannon appeared out of the side. He backed away and fell onto the sofa. It was then that he heard a footstep on the stairs.

Sarah Jane walked up the driveway with her son and her three young friends. The three fourteen year olds laughed at a joke that she wasn't listening to. She grabbed the doorknob to unlock it, but with the little force she put in, the door swung open a little was, exposing the hallway.

She looked back at Maria, Clyde and Luke, who had all gone silent; they knew she never left the door unlocked. Fear for her young companions washed over her as she put a hand on the door frame, barring their way through. "Stay here," She said seriously, and they knew better than to defy her, looking at each other with an itch to investigate, but still, out of respect, they stopped themselves.

She closed the door behind her and though she regretted it, locked it, so the children couldn't come in. She didn't want them risking their lives in her house. Again. But the house seemed strangely empty without them, even though she knew they were just outside.

She walked in to the living room, peering round. All seemed fine, except for a shape on the sofa. She edges towards it and her heart gave a leap. Tentatively she picked it up and a small, white bag fell out of one of the pockets and her heart leaped in to her mouth. A smile broke through her lips and she was filled with apprehension and excitement.

A small part of her wanted to throw open the door and let Maria, Luke and Clyde meet the man who had started it all, but the rest pushed it away, wanting him all to herself for a little bit. That is, if Rose wasn't with him. She didn't think so, though. She put the coat over her arm, still holding the little bag of jelly babies and started upstairs.

She heard voices from her little attic room and a commotion. She ran up the stairs and flung open the door, only to see the funniest sight she would have ever seen had it not been for the danger of the situation. The Doctor was there, crouching behind the little sofa while her computer tried to shoot him with his cannon. Of course, all he managed to do was blow chunks out of her sofa.

The Doctor looked relived to see her,. Collapsing onto the wooden floor. "Sarah Jane!" He cried, happily, but with relief laced in her voice. "Call the computer off!" he yelled at her." Despite it all, she had to restrain from laughing.

"Mr Smith! Stop, he's a friend." The computer calmed down and stopped firing.

"I am sorry Sarah Jane, He was not being compliant and I perceived him as a threat." The computer said quietly.

"That's ok," She glanced back at the Doctor, who had stood up and was brushing off his blue suit. A smirk crossed her face. "No harm done." She turned her full attention to the Doctor and her smile grew, if possible, wider. "Now, would you like a jelly baby? I'm quite partial to them, you know." He laughed and strode up to her, hugging her and lifting her completely off the ground. "I missed you," She whispered sadly.

"I missed you too," He let her feet touch the ground again, though she didn't notice, she still felt like she was floating. He rested his face on hers, so that their foreheads and noses touched. His fringe tickled her fore head and she blew up, to brush it out the way. It felt intimate here, like she was privy to some secret and that they were all alone. Her skin tingled with the contact, but a part of her wanted to pull away.

"Where's Rose?" She asked, not unkindly, but with a hint of possessiveness. She saw his eyes change, a hint of sadness in them. "Oh," he voice softened. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to-"

"No," he cut her off. "It's not your fault. She's ok, she's just trapped in an alternate universe. No way back." They just stood in the position for minutes, the things she wanted to say, not coming out, yet they seemed said anyway.

A knock on the door brought them back to reality. A voice called out, "Sarah Jane? Are you ok?"

"Are you expecting anyone?" Asked the Doctor, drawing away from her, the points where he had put pressure on her face tingled and felt empty, in a way.

"That's Maria." She said, itching for him to show as much emotion as he had a few seconds ago, but he had already gone back into his shell. She had seen him do it before; her pouring her heart out to him as they tried to fix K9 as his eyes smoky, almost glazed over as he smoothed over everything she had said. Yet she could see, vivid as if it had happened five minutes ago, the pain gathering behind his eyes.

"I should go then," He took his coat and stated to put it on.

"No," She whispered. "Don't go. I don't want you to disappear again; last time you did, I didn't see you for decades." She smiled sadly, feeling ripped in two.

"I'm sorry. I have to."

"Then promise me you'll come back soon." She smiled, blinking back the tears that welled in her eyes, threatening to come out.

"I'll try to." His voice sounded sincere. "it's not always easy for me. You wouldn't understand."

But strangely, she did. "I do," She nodded. "And if you can't do that, promise me you'll always remember me, promise me," She paused, unsure whether to say it. "Promise me I'll always be your Sarah Jane." He grinned widely.

"You'll never be anything else."

"Sarah Jane?" Called the voice again, louder and more frantically.

"I'm here," She finally yelled back, down the stairs. "Everything's ok, I was just clearing up." She cringed at the poor excuse, but it would have to do."

"I'd better go down and let them in." he nodded on agreement.

"I should go too, I didn't actually mean to stay." The machine, still lying on the sofa beeped again and he picked it up. "There's a big energy surge uptown, I should check that out." They started walking down the stairs together. "So you've done alright without me then,"

She sighed, "Alright, I suppose, but not good. I try and keep busy, then I don't have to think about it too much. I miss you." As they reached the landing, he made to go out the door, but she stopped him, "can you go out the back door?" She asked cautiously. "I don't want them to meet you yet."

He nodded, though slightly confused, "Of course," he turned round to go the other way.

"And one more thing before you go. Promise me?"

He nodded and kissed her on the lips. "I promise," And with that he was gone.

It was then that the tears she had held behind her eyes broke forth and ran down her cheeks. They only lasted a minute, as she lay her head back on the wall, succumbing to the heavy stream, kicking the wall with the back of her shoe and slumping down to the floor.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up, her legs shaking. Sighing, she walked over to the door and, with one last, nervous breath, opened it. She was suddenly barraged by questions. "What happened?" "Don't tell me you've been cleaning up for ten minutes!" "We were worried!" "Why'd you lock us out?" "Did I see someone come round from the back of the house just now? What aren't you telling us?"

It was too much to bear for Sarah Jane, who let out another choked sob. Then there was silence, as the three fourteen year olds stared at her. She new she must look a mess, with her mascara smudged, red swollen eyes and clutching a bag of jelly babies like it was her most precious possession. Plus, she had to explain the burnt hole in the couch.

"Are you alright?" Asked Maria, breaking the silence.

_Alright? _Thought Sarah Jane, _How could I be alright? The only man who I have ever loved has just ripped my heart out again and my lips still burn from his kiss, just like if I was a teenager. I'm so confused._

But she sniffed, pulling back tears and smiled. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" And without another word, she walked back in to the house, still clutching the jelly babies.


	3. Miscommunication

Sarah Jane Hugged her son at the School gates. "See you Luke, have fun in Cardiff." Then She hugged their friend Maria. "I should take you, really. They can't show you all the interesting stuff."

"I wish you would," Grinned Clyde, sauntering up and making everyone jump. "Nobody else could find an alien in the middle Cardiff town centre."

Sarah Jane shushed him. "Keep your voice down. Now go. And mind the rift." She gave them a little push towards the swarm of students climbing on to the bus. "And Torchwood," They looked behind at her, not knowing what Torchwood was. She waved goodbye and got back in her little car, driving off.

*****

"This is the most boring school trip I have ever been on," Sighed Maria, sitting on a bench with Clyde and Luke. "Listening to some man talk about Cardiff's contribution in the Second world war. It was so boring. The most interesting thing in that lecture theatre was the ladybird on my ruler."

Luke was staring in to space, when something caught his eye. A woman appeared from the floor by a building, but nobody even noticed. Soon she was gone with the crowd. "Did- did you see that." Luke lifted his elbows off his knees and pointed.

"See what?" Asked Maria, squinting in the direction Luke had pointed.

"There was a woman, she came out of the ground."

"What?" Maria was confused now.

"Over there, by the building."

"Sorry, mate," Clyde put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "you must have imagined it cause I've been staring in that direction for about ten minutes."

Luke stood up, feeling a little annoyed. "I'm not seeing things," He walked over to where he had seen the woman and ran his hand over the spot she had come out of. Nothing happened.

He heard Maria call out, "Luke, Come back!" but he carefully stepped in to the space. Nothing seemed to happen except the air rippled for a second but he heard Maria yell, "Luke! Luke? Where are you?" She rushed over to where he was and he was about to step out and tell her where he was when the ground started to shake and move downwards until the only part of Maria he could see was her feet, and the none at all.

He was in a large, cluttered room. He spun around quickly and ran in a random direction, but he felt a pair of arms round him. "Sorry." Said a male voice. "But you're not going anywhere." He let out a frightened exclamation.

****

Maria knocked on Sarah Jane's door and she opened it, hugging her friend and almost lifting her off the ground. "Where's Luke?" she asked, looking on each side of the door.

"We he's…" She stopped mid sentence. "Last time I remember, he was…" She stopped again. "I can't remember. It's like I know until I try to remember."

Sarah Jane started to panic, thinking quickly. "Ok, Maria. I'm going to take you up to Mr Smith. Try and remember what you had for breakfast yesterday and on no account think of what happened today."

"Ok," Maria closed her eyes and started mumbling something nonsensical about bacon and eggs and cornflakes. She put both hands on her young friend's shoulders and guided her up the stairs.

She stopped talking and Sarah Jane racked her brain for something unimportant. "What happened at school yesterday." She said and Maria nodded. She guided Maria in to the attic room and in front of Mr Smith. "Mr Smith, I need you," She said desperately.

Their hair was blown back as the giant computer retracted itself from the wall. Maria screwed up her eyes tighter and started mumbling louder, and Sarah Jane felt her shoulders tense.

"It's ok, Maria, just don't think." She whispered.

"You called me, Sarah Jane?" Asked the cool voice of the Zylok computer.

"Yes, I wanted to know whether it's possible for you to access Maria's memories of Luke. It's of extreme importance."

"Can she not tell you this all by herself?" Asked the calm computer.

"She's been drugged or something, as soon as she tries to remember, it's gone. Can you access them?"

"I will try, Sarah Jane." Sarah Jane let go of Maria's shoulders and stood back from her, watching a red beam scan Maria up and down as she continued to mutter. "I am finished, Sarah Jane. There is something you should look at."

Sarah Jane put her hands back on Maria's shoulders. "It's ok, you can stop now." Maria opened her eyes and took a deep breath in.

A frozen image came up on Mr Smith's screen. Luke was in the distance, waving his hand in thin air and then, he stepped forward and disappeared. "There appears to be a perception refractor in this memory. I would normally be able to remove it from footage, however as this is a memory, I can not. I am sorry Sarah Jane."

"That's ok, Mr Smith. Just run a check on the building behind it and the area for strange occurrences." Pages flashed up on the screen faster than anyone could read them.

"I have found some information, Sarah Jane, all mysterious happenings in the area of Cardiff link back to…"

*****

"Torchwood." Said the Doctor, smiling at the young man behind the counter. "I would like to see Torchwood. I've a friend who works there."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." The man shrugged and carried on his work on the old computer in the dark, cramped shop. He didn't even look up.

"I think you do. You work for them and I think I have a right to get in."

The man sighed and looked at the Doctor. "Why do you think you have a right to get in to Torchwood."

"Well for one thing… firstly." He seemed to have ran out of things to say. "You used to have my hand in a jar." The man looked surprised and looked down at the Doctor's hands. "Yeah, I know, magic." He waved both his hands in the air.

"Well, I'm sorry but I don-" He stopped in mid-sentence and looked in to space for a second, holing his hand to his ear. He nodded and looked back at the Doctor, suddenly everything went black.

He woke up in a cell with a young boy looking at him from a chair on the opposite side of the room. He sat up. "hello, who are you?"

The boy kept staring at him. "I'm Luke Smith and do you know where we are?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I don't. Wait. Yes I do. Torchwood." His expression changed from one of curiosity to one of annoyance. "He told me they'd changed, that he'd changed them." He shook his head in disappointment.

"Wait, my mum mentioned Torchwood this morning." The Doctor missed the point, but turned to Luke again.

"This is a bit of a dreary place to keep a child. Why are you here?"

"I think I saw something that nobody else did. A woman came out of the floor, like on a lift and nobody else could. Also, when I stepped into the place she had been, my friends couldn't see me. I was about to step out when it started to lower. "

"Ah," The Doctor nodded, smiling at Luke's detailed description. "So Torchwood are using a perception refractor now." Luke gave him a curious expression, leaning in a bit, as if keen to know a new fact. The Doctor sighed and started to explain, "Light travels in straight lines, and a perception refractor uses nitrogen molecules in fixed spaces to reflect to light away from a triangular point." Luke seemed to take it all in, nodding.

Then there was silence, until Luke, looking up at the wall said, "There are seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety three bricks in this wall at 4cm by 10cm. The cement is approximately 0.33 cm thick, making measurements of the wall,"

The Doctor finished his sentence for him, "5meters by 23 meters, how did you know that?"

Luke shrugged, "I just worked it out."

The Doctor seemed at a loss for words, "I- You- How are the chips at school?"

Luke shrugged, "Ordinary, why?"

"No reason, just like asking questions." He grinned. "Why do you know so much?"

"Because," Luke looked around, worried that somebody would find out a terrible secret. "I shouldn't tell you."

"I swear, I'm not a bad guy." He put his hand over his heart, and, as a second thought, over his other one. "Besides, I can't do much in here can I?" He held his hands in the air. "They took everything I have." A hand reached out to his pocket, "Wait, I still have this," He pulled out a little wax paper bag. "Do you want one?" The Doctor popped the little yellow sweet in his mouth, "they're only jelly babies."

Luke frowned when he heard the words "jelly babies," as if it reminded him of something.

"Jelly babies?" He asked, as he reached out to take one. "My mum, she has a bag of them, in her room, locked away in a drawer. I think that is abnormal behaviour."

The Doctor sighed, "Do you think your mother is worried? What do you think she's doing right now."

"My mum'll find me, she always does." He shrugged.

The Doctor made a confused face towards the boy, his voice raising slightly in pitch. "Do you- do you often get captured by secret organisations?"

"No, this will be the first time this has happened." Luke shook his head. "But I've had an eventful life."

The Doctor sighed, "Well, the only way we'll get out of here is if Captain Jack checks the cells. Your mum may get you out of scrapes at school but she can't get us out of this mess and I don't have my sonic screwdriver."

Luke looked at the Doctor, with shocked, wide eyes. "You- Sonic- Doctor?" He looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

The Doctor leaned over to him, just as shocked, almost seeming about to have a panic attack too. "Luke," He said, strangely calmly, but his voice shook with strain, "What's you're mum's name?" But Luke never got the words out, as a loud noise erupted from where they assumed the main part of the Torchwood base was and a noise froze stiff at a terrible sound- gun shots.

****

The little yellow car pulled up hastily outside a battered little shop. "Who orders pizza under the name of their top secret, alien hunting organization anyway?" Asked Sarah Jane, almost annoyed and she rushed out of the car. A girl attempted to get out after her but Sarah Jane turned back, her voice steely, "No, Maria, get back in the car."

"But I've always been on adventures with you," Maria cried indignantly.

"This is dangerous."

"As apposed to the times when it was safe to go alien hunting?" Maria folded her arms, still standing up by the car.

"Look, this isn't an alien, this is Torchwood. Torchwood lock up anything remotely alien and they use guns." She pointed to the little shop with true anger on her face. "That is their home-turf. I could never forgive myself if you got locked up and, besides all that, we need someone to call for help if either Luke or I don't come out!" She looked truly fierce.

"I'm sorry, you're right." She bent down to get back in to the car.

"No, Maria, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, I just don't want you to get hurt. There's a mobile in the car. If either of us aren't out in 15 minutes, then call the Brigadier."

"What should I say?"

Sarah Jane had already started heading for the building. "Just mention me!" She yelled, before running in to the building.

The little shop was dingy, not even a good cover. A young man in a suit stood behind the counter. She walked up to him and put her elbows on the table, resting her head on her hands. "Tell, me," She said with a bright smile. "who orders pizza under the name of their secret alien hunting organization?" She said the question innocently with the huge smile still plastered to her face. She cocked her head to the side, the smile transforming into a glare. "And I want to know what you've done with my son."

The man's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, not knowing what to say. "I want Luke back," She snarled.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The man's voice was exceptionally high, proving that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I want my son back," she yelled indignantly.

"No," Said the man, "I'm sorry but your son is not to leave here until we find out what he is."

"What? He's human! You can test his DNA!"

"We know he's human, he's just a little to…" he paused to find the right word, "perfect and he could see through our-"

Sarah Jane finished his sentence off dryly, "Perception refractors. I know. I just want to see my son."

"I'm sorry," Said the man, but he didn't look sorry, just serious and business-like.

"Fine," She took a lipstick out of her bag and put it up to her mouth, with the cap off, never taking her eyes off the man. Then she pulled of the cap and activated the sonic lipstick. First she pointed it at the man, damaging his ear piece, then she pointed it at the door, slid over the desk ran through it, unlocking a further door until she was on a walkway overlooking the hub.

Three people had guns pointed straight at her, one man and two dark haired girls. She took a deep breath and pointed the harmless sonic lipstick at them with unfaltering hands.

"Let me see my son," She said, in a hushed, forceful voice. A gunshot ran and she ducked, suddenly this was a lot more like the old days; a matter of her life. She snapped in to her old mentality too, confident and calm.

"Hey, hey, hey." A loud American voice rang out. "No gunshots in here. If you can help it. I've got a hangover and that noise is killing me."

"She has a sonic weapon," Said one of the women, wearing glasses.

"That? It's a sonic lipstick. The handy tool for today's working woman. And totally harmless. Nice bluff."

"Thanks." She blew a stray hair out her face, turning to him. "Can I see my son?"

"Tell me your name first."

"Sarah Jane smith," She held out her hand stiffly for him to shake, he took it, sending her a charm smile.

"Ah, Ms Smith, I've heard about you. I read those excellent unit files. Absolutely brilliant, best thing I've read since Harry Potter."

"Not saying much then," She murmured. "Anyway, how did you get in to my files? Some of them are level one clearance."

"If you're a good enough hacker, you can get in to anywhere," He grinned. "Now what was this about your son. Why do we have a kid locked up in here?"

"He's a clone," Sarah Jane said simply, there was no point in lying. "He was born about two years ago, as part of the bubble shock conspiracy."

"Bubble shock, that stuff was disgusting,"

"Not to mention the instant zombification of anyone who drunk it." Sarah Jane added. "He was made by the Bane, using the DNA of all the humans who walked in to the bubble shock factory. He's been helping me save the world for about two years now."

"Well, I don't think we need him here, you've obviously got him in safe hands." He smiled even more charmingly, if it was possible. "Let's go get your son."

"Thank you," She said politely and hooked arms with him as they walked up to the cells.

"Mum!" A voice said as the door opened. She saw his smiling face pressed up against the glass.

"Luke!" She hurried toward him, then stopped mid-stride at the sight of someone else. "Doctor?" The dark figure at the back of the room nodded.

"They locked him up too?" Jack sighed. "They really need to get this kidnapping thing straight. Don't kidnap friends." He shook his head and Luke hugged his mum.

"I knew you'd come and get me," He grinned.

"of course I would, you're my son. Now go see Maria, she's out the front. Quickly, if you don't we may have half of unit upon us." Luke nodded and Jack led him out. The Doctor had stood up at this point, his face half-covered in shadow. She smiled. "Hi," She said quietly.

"Hi," He said quietly back. "Good kid you've got there." He smiled.

"Thank you," She said abruptly. "For keeping your promise. I remembered."

"No, thank you."

"For what?" She asked. He sauntered out the cell, his hands in his pockets. "For being you," He grinned and disappeared out the door. She sighed and followed the enigma that was the Doctor out the door, knowing she would never understand him.

It didn't matter though.


End file.
